"I told you to coat the blade with a poison lethal to vampires," Kaan said, his tone hovering between exasperation and amusement. "And yet, the target bounced back to life as if nothing had happened. So tell me—was this breathtaking failure due to sheer incompetence or outright defiance?"
The scholar stiffened, his mind spinning like a poorly oiled wheel. Had His Majesty figured out his little act of defiance? Was Kaan just toying with him, waiting to see if he'd crack? Was this some kind of twisted second chance—confess and live?
But would Kaan really spare him? No. Impossible.
As the scholar wrestled with his thoughts, another voice, thin and unsteady, cut through the silence.
"It must have been the one who delivered the blade, Your Majesty!" a voice piped up, quivering like a leaf in a hurricane. "He's the only one who could have tampered with it without leaving witnesses! He must have done it on his way to you!"
